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Chinese New Year (春节, 农历新年 or 过年) or the Spring Festival is celebrated at a new moon in January or February. Traditionally, red packets are passed out on Chinese New Year's Eve, and then Chinese New Year is celebrated with firecrackers.
The date is determined by the rules of the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Tibetans and the pagan Bulgars.
Some Chinese New Year dates (in the Gregorian calendar) are listed below (with a type of Cantonese romanization for the animals):
| Animal | Dates | |
|---|---|---|
| Rooster - Yaw5 | 1993 January 23 | 2005 February 9 |
| Dog - Sot1 | 1994 February 10 | 2006 January 29 |
| Pig - Hoi6 | 1995 January 31 | 2007 February 18 |
| Rat - Zi2 | 1996 February 19 | |
| Ox - Caw2 | 1997 February 7 | |
| Tiger - Yant4 | 1998 January 28 | |
| Rabbit - Mau5 | 1999 February 16 | |
| Dragon - Sant4 | 2000 February 5 | |
| Snake - Zi6 | 2001 January 24 | |
| Horse - Ng5 | 2002 February 12 | |
| Goat - Mey6 | 2003 February 1 | |
| Monkey - Sant1 | 2004 January 22 | |
See Chinese zodiac for a list of Chinese New Year dates over the last century.
Mythology
In Chinese mythology, several legends are related to the Chinese new year. Examples include:
See also
- Holidays in Taiwan
- Japanese New Year
- Mid-autumn Festival
- New Year
- Têt - Vietnamese New Year